World's Largest-ever Study Of Near-Death Experiences

World's Largest-ever Study Of Near-Death Experiences

www.sciencedaily.com

The University of Southampton is launching the world's largest-ever study of near-death experiences this week.

The study is led by Dr Sam Parnia, an expert in the field of consciousness during clinical death, together with Dr Peter Fenwick and Professors Stephen Holgate and Robert Peveler of the University of Southampton. Following a successful 18-month pilot phase at selected hospitals in the UK, the study is now being expanded to include other centres within the UK, mainland Europe and North America.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Near Death Experiences have always fascinated me. I'm sure they have fascinated many people over the years because after religion, they are one of the only things that potentially give some small insight into moments after death.

"During a cardiac arrest, all three criteria of death are present. There then follows a period of time, which may last from a few seconds to an hour or more, in which emergency medical efforts may succeed in restarting the heart and reversing the dying process. What people experience during this period of cardiac arrest provides a unique window of understanding into what we are all likely to experience during the dying process."

The only thing that worries me if they turn around and say it's all neurons in the brain misfiring and once you're dead, you're dead. Still it's nice to see such a big and reputable study commencing in this field. I wait on the edge of my seat and hope I don't find the answer myself before this study does.

www.sciencedaily.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Science and consciousness need to be studied much more. This is very cool

I had an NDE in 2005, for me it wasn't like the bright light or heaven scenario some people seem to see etc... BUT it was an overwhelming feeling of love and being welcomed home.

I don't need anyone to confirm for me what happens when my body dies.
Or worse, say they can prove my feelings wrong with what science says.

'___' burst or not, I know I will be exiting this existence, happy and pain free at that moment of passing.

I will be curious to see the results of this study.

It will take some time but it should be interesting.

Ya this is an interesting study... I thought a few people did this already.. Like that one guy who came up with 21 grams.. Basically states that when you die, you lose 21 grams possibly because the soul leaving the body..

Or how about Moody... he did extensive research into this...
This site is a good help..
www.near-death.com...

Also King Lizard had an NDE also... I am surprised he didn't show up here yet.. His NDE was an interesting one.

Yes this subject is fascinating, and i believe there could be something to it, i think science can recreate something similar, but they cant explain cases where people have described their surroundings in the operating theatre, detailing the smallest details after they have been resuscitated, while having been brought in clinically dead, how would they know?

I made a thread with a great documentary on it, i recommend you watch it if you've never seen this before.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Originally posted by ThichHeaded
Also King Lizard had an NDE also... I am surprised he didn't show up here yet.. His NDE was an interesting one.

Here it is.

www.belowtopsecret.com...



[edit on 10-9-2008 by Denied]

Thanks for the links, I'll check those out.

I think this study might stand out because it covers so many areas and a larger active area should catch more examples as they happen so that they can be somewhat controled in terms of data and records. It probably will take a while, but I'll follow this closely.

Dr Peter Fenwick has done studies like this before except I think he was concentrating on Out Of The Body Experiences last time. What he did was to visit various hospitals throughout England place cards with letters and numbers on them on top of out of reach cupboards etc in operating theatres and high dependancy wards. At least some of the people who died and were brought back by staff claimed they had left their bodies while physical deceased and correctly named the symbols, numbers and letters placed in high-out of reach places. They simply couldn't have known they were there unless they had left there body and were looking down on the scene from a point high up near the ceiling.

Those neurons misfiring, could be electrical signals going somewhere into the ether.

Taking with it, a lot of very personal information.

Who's to tell yet?

[edit on 10-9-2008 by mr-lizard]

Researchers study near-death experiences

The study, co-ordinated by a team at Southhampton University in southern England, will involve placing on shelves images that can only be seen from above.

Researchers have subsequently set up special shelving in resuscitation areas.

Each shelf holds a picture, but it is visible only from the ceiling.

I wonder how they're going to do separate brain measurements though...

I can't believe they are taking the out-of-body experience thing so seriously.

I am extremely interested in this subject aswell as OBE and last year I spoke to a very nice sister in the Southampton Hospital when I found out about this study. Its been going on now for a while.

What they have done is put some form of picture/wording on a piece of papar or card and put it high above the patients beds and anyone that claims to have had an OBE will obviously be able to tell everyone what they saw on the paper above their beds. Unfortunately to date the study has been unsuccessful.

I have spoken to many nurses in the UK and they have all encountered some form of life changing events with patients reports of NDE.

Did you know that uppon death a rather huge dose of the highly hallucinogenic compound '___' is released in the brain. I guess they won't tell you that... The experiences people report in cases of NDE, are similar to the effects of the three letter drug. '___' can be processed out of regular lawn grass and is found stored within the human body. Kinda makes you think, ha?

Originally posted by C.C.Benjamin
I can't believe they are taking the out-of-body experience thing so seriously.

What an odd thing to say. I can only assume you've read very little on the subject and it's implications and thought about it even less !
If there were scientific proof to support the idea that consciousness exists independently of the physical body, it lends tremendous credence to the concept of life continuing after bodily "death".

It is an EXTREMELY important area to study , addressing as it does one of the most significant questions most human beings on the planet invariably ask themselves at some point, ie what might happen when I die, does any part of me survive ?

Why not get informed before attempting to make an opinion that is hardly worth the energy it took you to type ?

Originally posted by cosmicpixie
What an odd thing to say.

Not really. It's a realistic thing to say. Before I continue: you don't believe in fairys, do you?

Originally posted by cosmicpixieI can only assume you've read very little on the subject and it's implications and thought about it even less !

And I think we all know what assumption is the mother of. I've read, I saw, I dismissed as more superstitious wank.

Originally posted by cosmicpixieIf there were scientific proof to support the idea that consciousness exists independently of the physical body, it lends tremendous credence to the concept of life continuing after bodily "death".

Absolutely it would, but it will be, at best, "inconclusive". They will never prove something that doesn't exist - the soul.

Originally posted by cosmicpixieIt is an EXTREMELY important area to study , addressing as it does one of the most significant questions most human beings on the planet invariably ask themselves at some point, ie what might happen when I die, does any part of me survive ?

I see. You're scared. We're all scared. Because when we die, it's the end. It sucks - hard - but that is life. Fool yourself as much as you want, but at the end it is the end, and nothing you believe will change that.

Originally posted by cosmicpixieWhy not get informed before attempting to make an opinion that is hardly worth the energy it took you to type ?

Why not avoiding making your entire argument on a baseless assumption?

why bother post in a thread on a subject you've nothing worth contributing too....? If the idea of this study is so "pointless" to you , why are you even bothering to read the thread ....my guess is just to see how many people give you some attention ?

I'd love to see you stand face to face with the intelligent, experienced, doctor who has instigated this study and tell him "I don't know why you are bothering, it's all pointless".

I mean, c'mon, what kind of response would you expect from that flimsy, no-brainer of a comment ? Your mind is closed yet you bother to open your mouth, curious

Originally posted by C.C.Benjamin
I can't believe they are taking the out-of-body experience thing so seriously.

I can't believe that some do not take the out-of-body experience seriously.

To close our eyes to what people experience is myopic.
It should be studied scientifically, if possible.
We are so three-dimensional here.
The universe(s) are probably not.

The quest for knowledge - all kinds of knowledge - should never stop.

I experienced a NDE when I was 7 years old. It was a very strange experience and I never told anyone until many years later. After the almost tragic event, I tried to bury the whole thing in my memory, it was too strange and I didn't want to seem crazy for what I saw and where I went. When I was much older, I saw a TV show about NDE's, I had never heard the term before and immediately recognized that I was not alone, that other people had also had this experience. What a relief!

I personally find that young people's account of NDE's are the most interesting and genuine. They most likely have not been exposed to the idea of NDE yet, so the thought of "influence or suggestion" doesn't enter the picture.

Had I ever heard of NDE, or seen a TV show about the topic, or had parents who talked about "what happens after" I might have chalked my experience up to suggestion or influence. But there was never a time when any of that ever crossed my mind.

There wasn't any tunnel of light or old friends in my experience, I was alone, but I did leave my body and ascended upwards, I would say maybe the height of a light post. From there, I could see a crowd running up to a child laying on the street, they seemed to be frantic, but I had no idea who these people where, or who the child was. I felt completely at peace, weightless. The closest feeling I can think of would be a total sense of beauty. I did not care about the scene going on below me, but I watched it with dislocated interest. The next thing I remember, was paramedics over me on a stretcher, my mother crying hysterically. I remember one turning to her and saying, "He's going to be okay."

If someone had told me when I was out of body, that the child was me, and that I had an option to go back or not, there is no doubt I would have said "no way!" Once you are on the other side, everything makes sense once again. Like that is your true eternal self, not the person in that body.

About 20 years later, I felt comfortable enough to talk to my mother about it, but it still made me nervous. I asked her about that night, what was going on. I still hadn't told her of my NDE. She said that after the accident, I had no pulse and was lifeless. A crowd came running up around me, everyone was frantic and trying to perform CPR on me. They thought I was gone.

[edit on 18-9-2008 by super70]

Originally posted by cosmicpixie
why bother post in a thread on a subject you've nothing worth contributing too....?

Whoa there, we're all entitled to an opinion, and that was mine.

Originally posted by cosmicpixieIf the idea of this study is so "pointless" to you , why are you even bothering to read the thread ....my guess is just to see how many people give you some attention ?

Did I say exploration of the human mind was pointless? No. I said that the notion some incorporeal, discombobulated version of yourself actually floating above your own body was silly.

It is clearly going to end up as some kind of chemical reaction in your brain, because that's what all of human conciousness is.

Originally posted by cosmicpixieI'd love to see you stand face to face with the intelligent, experienced, doctor who has instigated this study and tell him "I don't know why you are bothering, it's all pointless".

Well, that wouldn't be like me, because I think exploring the mind is a great idea. I just think using superstitious methods to get there is silly.

Originally posted by cosmicpixieI mean, c'mon, what kind of response would you expect from that flimsy, no-brainer of a comment ? Your mind is closed yet you bother to open your mouth, curious

I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting people to jump to wild conclusions about what I was saying.

I will in future.